Can't believe Dmac is dropped completely after last week.
Samisoni every day over Taylor for me.
I'd have Roigard over Christie too.
Can't believe Dmac is dropped completely after last week.
Samisoni every day over Taylor for me.
I'd have Roigard over Christie too.
We can whinge about the reffing all we want, but, given stats, we should have won. Missing those kicks which would have put us in front was crushing.
Every podcast I've listened too (and there have been many) is talking about how the ABs need to counter the Boks.
There is next to 0 chat about the threats the ABs pose and what SA will have to do to deal with them.
Am I crazy or is this a bit weird?
It's being talked about like it's a given SA will be the ones applying the pressure all game.
Too many changes but still a lot of quality in the 15.
No Roigard is the strangest omission. He's a known quantity what benefit is there to picking him over Roigard?
@Kiwiwomble Lol 100%. Every time George posts my brain hurts trying to decipher what he's saying.
/sarcasm
Maybe we'll play them against Moana, best we save Blackwell for the big games.
Late to this so just my brief thoughts:
Yup I agree it's A team. Except, I'd start Roigard to give him more game time against a quality team. Smith can play 20 off the bench.
@Nepia might be his D? He's probably our best defensive 9.
But as he stunts the attack I don't see the point.
Roigard is a pretty good defender too and a much better attacking 9.
@stodders our reserve 9 has 43 minutes. Lol
@winger I don't really get this perspective. JGB is in a word, average.
Do we want the Canes to win the comp, or finish mid table at best?
The Canes have too many favourites. I have no doubt guys like Prinsep & Blackwell give their all at training, but, they're just not very good.
I think what Thorn did with the Reds is the right way - get rid of dead wood, and pick young guys who may amount to something. You won't always get it right but it's better than being a middling franchise like the Canes are becoming
@Canes4life said in Blues v Hurricanes:
A few tip offs that I've heard around the Canes side.
Tiatia to start at Fullback
Goosen on the right wing
Mafileo in the mix.
Aumua reserve hooker over Riccitelli
Kirifi, Evans and Savea to start. Flanders out of the 23 altogether as I think Prinsep is in the mix.
That is frustrating
@gt12 it's a complete mystery, the only thing Holland says on the matter is he loves the impact he brings from the bench. We know nothing otherwise.
I too wish our journos would probe this more, I mean he made the ABs, and played great, then since then he's been in & out of the team for 2 seasons.
The thing that's hard to fathom is that he's always excellent when he's on the field.
If Holland wasn't a complete dipshit and had any foresight we could develop a midfield of PUJ & Sullivan for the next 5 years. Sigh.
@chris this is the Canes coaching mindset problem in a nutshell IMHO
Rayasi is dangerous, he's hard to defend. He can score tries, and create tries
We aren't go to win if we don't have players like this
That should overshadow any perceived work rate issue, which a good coach would be able to solve.
to be honest I haven't noticed this with Rayasi. Rayasi is not why we're losing and for Holland to mention this publicly is incredibly disappointing
He can't see problems which 99% of fans point out here and on Facebook each week
Pre broadcast Kristina Sue mentioned Goosen was leaving, so looks like it's confirmed but not officially announced.
Not sure where he's going but definitely a loss. Can't remember him ever having a bad game.
Hope he's around for a final NPC season.
On another note, Sue actually asked Holland if he knows what his best 15 is since he keeps changing the team weekly. Was nice to hear a good question for a change!
Canes selections really are something else.
Fix one problem, create another
Bringing in IWL. Awesome.
Wait - it's for Scrafton?? Sigh
If I had a billion bucks I'd buy a French club, and sign Prinsep, Proctor and Blackwell on 2 million dollar contracts
@Canes4life far right is Graham Rowntree.
Lol poor PUJ is on the bench for Wainui tomorrow. So he's obviously fit.
From what I can remember, PUJ been involved in most of our tries when he's on the field this season.
I've watched the Canes since 97, and have put up with some stupid selections, but the treatment of PUJ is crazy. I really feel for him.
He's consistently good whenever he plays. Am I missing something?
I think Rugby being a team sport in the truest sense makes this hard.
Lomu was right man right time (freak athlete compared to a lot of skinny white guys at the time).
In other sports, Curry can go lights out from 3, Messi can get a hat trick on his own, Stokes can smash a ton, or Boult can clean up your top order.
Too many moving pieces in Rugby for one player to dominate. The closest I can think of other than Lomu is DC against the Lions.
Flanders has the goods but when fit Holland treats him like our other promising players, random starts and dropped after good performances.